Expendable pallet



July 10, 1956 W E 2,754,077

EXFENDABLE PALLET Filed Sept. 11, 1952 lfizgnzorx Eoman F W252?" United States Patent 2,754,077 EXPENDABLE PALLET Roman F. Weber, Chicago, Ill., assignor to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application September ll, 1952, Serial No. 309,005 1 Claim. (Cl. 248 120) This invention relates to a pallet construction of a type particularly adapted for supporting wire bound boxes and contents therein in transit. More particularly this invention relates to an improved expendable pallet construction having portions thereof which may be quickly disassembled.

It is a prime object of this proved return freight or other transportation.

Still another object is to provide an inexpensive supporting or leg structure for the platform of a pallet, the

and lower stringers and 16 respectively. The sides 11 are suitably held in the rectangular position by means of wire ties 17 disposed in a conventional manner.

The platform 12 comprises a plurality of contiguous or adjacent horizontally extending boards 18. The horizontally extending boards 18 are suitably connected by laterally extending cleat 19. A pair of laterally extending end cleats 20 are connected to the boards 18 at opposite ends of the platform 12. As

Patented July 10, 1956 indicated at 21 the ends of intermediate horizontal boards are suitably connected to the cleats by nails.

The expendable supporting elements 13 comprise laterally spaced blocks or also having side surfaces 25. Each supporting element 13 has a beam 26 which has its ends suitably connected to the blocks 22. The beams 26 are adapted to be supthese portions overlapping and being of the same thickness as the end cleats 20. The lower surface 27 of each beam 26 is flush with the lower edge of bottom surface 24 of each block 22. Nails or driven members 31 suitably connect ends of the beams 26 to the blocks 18, the cleats 20 and into the blocks During transit, the wire bound sides 11 of the pallet and box assembly 10 may be suitably covered by means of a cover (not shown) and a wire wrapping may be disposed completely around the assembly 10. The plat- 12 has been properly nailed to the expendable supmost expensive portion of the assembly, can be returned support the maximum loads to which the pallet might be subjected.

It can now be seen that an improved pallet and box assembly has been provided which completely achieves the prime object of the invention, namely the provision of a true and inexpensive expendable pallet, but it must be understood that changes and modifications may be made in this construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as disclosed nor the scope thereof as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A pallet construction comprising a horizontally extending load supporting platform, said platform including a plurality of longitudinally extending substantially parallel boards, cleats connected to opposite ends of said boards for rigidly securing said boards in assembly, supporting elements releasably connected to opposite ends of said platform adjacent said cleats, each of said supporting elements including a pair of laterally spaced rectangular blocks having substantially flat bottom, top, and side surfaces, the bottom surfaces normally resting on a supporting surface, the top surface being contiguous to and supporting the end portions of said cleats, a beam connecting the blocks of each supporting element, each beam extending parallel to said cleats, each of said beams including oppositely disposed substantially wide sides and upper and lower substantially narrower load supporting edges, means connecting one side of each beam in contiguous and upright relation with one side surface of each associated block and the lower edge of each of said beam being in flush relation with respect to the bottom surface of each of said associated blocks, portions of the sides of each of said beams projecting upwardly above the top surfaces of said associated blocks and engaging said cleats in overlapping relation, the projecting portion of the side of each beam being in coextensive engagement with one of said cleats, said upper edges of the beam engaging all the boards in supporting relation whereby a major portion of the load on said platform is carried on the supporting edges of said beams, and means on opposite ends of said cleats for releasably connecting the ends of said cleats to said blocks, said means including a driven fastener extending through the cleats and into said blocks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

